This Dominican Town Shows That There Are More Than Two Ways To Have A Gender

Many people think that gender is a concrete concept with no room for flexibility, but it's actually much more fluid than that. There are places in the world, for example, where girls — through no outside treatment or influence — grow up to become men.

If that sounds weird, it's actually just the result of a rare genetic condition.

The condition is technically known as 5-alpha-reductase deficiency, or 5-ARD, and it's characterized by the fact that these children are born with the external appearance of females, but the chromosomal makeup of males. This means that many of them have female genitalia, but also have a Y chromosome. That, in turn, causes them to identify as male.

This is one of several conditions that is classified as intersex.

Flickr / Shih-Shiuan Kao

Intersex people around the world struggle for recognition and acceptance. While people with other intersex conditions can be found all over the world, 5-ARD is typically only seen in the Dominican Republic, Turkey, and Papua New Guinea.

Las Salinas is a village in the Dominican Republic that is familiar with 5-ARD.

Wikimedia Commons

Here, 12 out of 13 families studied had one or more male members who carried the gene. Though not all carriers of the gene exhibit symptoms, hundreds of people in this village are affected by the bizarre condition.

The town is small and isolated, which could contribute to the situation.

Hotel Salinas

The Guardian via BBC

Johnny, 24, lives in Las Salinas and is affected by 5-ARD. Originally named Felecita, he was raised as a girl, but he was never comfortable with that gender assignment. "I was born at home instead of in a hospital. They didn't know what sex I was. I never liked to dress as a girl. When they bought me girls' toys, I never bothered playing with them. All I wanted to do was play with the boys." he told the Guardian.

(via The Guardian)

While many people in the world struggle to accept the fact that gender isn't black and white (which makes life extremely difficult for trans and intersex people), Johnny has been lucky. In his village, the transformation of a girl into a boy is met with celebration. Human experiences come in all forms, and the people of Las Salinas have the right idea by celebrating everyone.